- in United Kingdom
- within Energy and Natural Resources, Technology and Intellectual Property topic(s)
Trade union right of access
One of the government’s main objectives under its Make Work Pay plan is to enhance collective voice in the workplace, predominantly through strengthened trade union rights. On that theme, a major change is coming next month – from 30 October 2026, trade unions will have a new statutory right to seek access (digital and/or physical) to workplaces. Almost all employers could be affected as a union will be able to request access even if it is not recognised by the employer and has little or no existing membership or presence within the workforce.
The below webinar and articles focus on what employers need to know about this significant new right and how you can prepare.
Webinar: An employer walk-through of the new regime
Date: 7 October
Time: 12pm – 1pm
We’re running a webinar to walk through the new regime and what it means for employers. We’ll cover the below and much more:
- How the access request process will work
- How to ensure you are prepared in advance of receiving a request
- What to do if an access request lands on your desk
- Key takeaways from the Code of Practice governing access requests
We’ll also discuss the new requirement for employers to notify employees of their right to join a trade union, as well as some other trade union changes brought in under the Employment Rights Act 2025. Follow the link above to register and to read more about what we will be covering.
An employer’s guide
For more info on trade union access in the meantime, this guide explains what constitutes “access”, how trade unions can make a request, how employers can respond, and how the new regime will be enforced.
TLDR
If you’re looking for a quick read, in this at-a-glance update we pick out four key points every HR team should know about trade union access.
Preventing harassment
The other key ERA changes coming into force this October relate to the prevention of workplace harassment. From 30 October 2026, the duty to prevent sexual harassment will be amended to require employers to take “all” reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment. On the same date, a new type of harassment claim will be introduced which will enable workers to bring a claim where they were harassed by a third party and their employer failed to take all reasonable steps to prevent that third party harassment. The new third party harassment claim extends beyond sexual harassment and covers harassment on the grounds of relevant protected characteristics.
The risk assessment review process should already be an evolving one but, with the above reforms on the way, it is particularly important for employers to identify and revisit potential risk areas now (both relating to sexual harassment and third party harassment) and take all reasonable steps to mitigate those risks. In the following on-demand webinar discussion and articles, we look more closely at these reforms and how employers can prepare.
Online discussion – Raising the bar: what the new harassment reforms mean for employers
Last month, our panel of experts sat down to discuss the practical challenges employers are likely to face and to answer questions from the audience on the issues concerning them as they prepare for the new reforms. The webinar discussion is now available on-demand.
From policy to prevention
In this article, we explore what prevention looks like in practice and the steps employers can take now to prepare for October’s changes.
Lesser-known aspects
Whilst most employers are aware that anti-harassment laws are changing, some of the implications may be less familiar. In her recent blog post, Kate Redshaw highlights some of those lesser-known aspects.
Right to work obligations
Away from the ERA, important changes to the UK’s regime to prevent illegal working are on the way this autumn. Obligations to carry out right to work checks will be extended and a new concept of “extended liability” (which pushes liability for such checks up the supply chain in certain contracting and labour supply situations) will be introduced. In the article below, our business immigration team has written more about these changes and how to prepare, including reviewing your workforce arrangements, onboarding processes, and contracts with labour providers now to identify what changes you need to make before October.
Unfair dismissal
Although technically not coming into effect this autumn, we couldn’t leave out January’s unfair dismissal changes – from January 2027, the qualifying period for unfair dismissal claims will reduce from 2 years to 6 months and the compensation cap on such claims will be scrapped. These are both major changes and preparing for the new unfair dismissal world will be a key area of focus for most organisations between now and December (and beyond).
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
[View Source]